Tag: Serial

Podcasting was at first believed to be a short-lived fad that was quickly loosing steam. The idea behind a podcast was that in daily/weekly/monthly installments a podcaster would release a clip that ranged from storytelling to just brainstorming thoughts on a topic of interest. Just as podcasts began to lose steam, they were revitalized by the quality and popularity of the podcast crime series Serial. Premiering in 2014, Serial led the wave for podcasts to gain serious loyal listenership, and become a mainstream trend. It is estimated that 20% of people aged 20-49 have listened to a podcast in the last month.

For me, I always saw podcasts as something an old person would listen to. I imagined a grandparent that was not good with technology learning about podcasts and playing them from a desktop computer as they sat and read a book in the living room or cooked in the kitchen. Then, I had an internship last summer that left me with a lot of free time sitting at my desk. Eventually, I got tired of listening to music in my headphones, but I was at work so I could not watch videos on my computer. This is how I ended up listening to my first podcast, “Stuff You Should Know,” by howstuffworks.com. This podcast, released every few days, covers a different, interesting, niche topic with each installment- currently the last three posts are titled How Breast Implants Work, How Swearing Works, and How Corsets Work. Each podcast runs 30 minutes to an hour, and provides information on something you should know, as evidenced in the title. Listening to these at my internship changed my entire perspective on podcasts. The podcast held my attention a lot more than I expected it to, and I actually found myself looking forward to a new installment. I even would listen to and from my way to work and when I was bored at home.

My personal podcast today is about my experience abroad and what I have experienced from my first day touching down at the El Prat airport to my final week in Barcelona. This experience has shaped me in ways I never expected, and am proud of. Initially I was timid about leaving school and my friends and flying across the world to live in a non-English speaking country for four months. I was not sure how I would adapt or if I would truly enjoy it. In this podcast I talk about how far I have come from this frame of mind, and I give my advice for anyone considering studying abroad in the future.